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ARKANSAS WITS

Grade 5

WITS & The Standards   COMMON CORE ALIGNMENT
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Grade 5 Common Core Language Standards Alignment

Conventions of Standard English:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.5.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

WITS Alignment:

Students will be able to write poems that incorporate and call attention to these conventions of English grammar and usage.

Conventions of Standard English, continued:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.5.2 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

WITS Alignment:

Students will be able to write poems that incorporate and call attention to these aspects of English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling. Visiting writers will give prompts that require students to utilize direct address, in which they will be able to practice these conventions of commas.

Knowledge of Language:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.5.3 Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.

WITS Alignment:

The WITS program is designed so that students will be able to pay close attention to language, use care when making choices for effect, and write with authority. Students will be able to pay close attention to dialect and register, and, in their own written work, imitate the dialect or register of a model poem. Many prompts are designed with a built-in revision component, in which students will be able to expand, combine, and reduce phrases or sentences for meaning and style.

Vocabulary Acquisition and Use:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.5.4 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 5 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.

  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.5.4.a: Use context (e.g., cause/effect relationships and comparisons in text) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.5.4.b: Use common, grade-appropriate Greek and Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., photograph, photosynthesis).
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.5.4.c: Consult reference materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital, to find the pronunciation and determine or clarify the precise meaning of key words and phrases.
WITS Alignment:

Visiting writers will may read published poems as models aloud to the students. Through class discussion, students will then be able to collectively decode unknown words by using context clues. Word banks (and/or other vocabulary tools) will also be used to call students’ attention to words with common affixes and roots. Students will be able to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words, and incorporate these new words into their poetry. Visiting writers also incorporate classroom dictionaries and reference materials into prompts and exercises as well.

Vocabulary Acquisition and Use, part 2:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.5.5 Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.

WITS Alignment:

Our poetry prompts are designed so that students will actively consider the literal and nonliteral meanings of words, figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings. Students will be able to interpret and employ figurative language–including similes and metaphors–in context; recognize and explain the meaning of common idioms, adages, and proverbs; and use a relationship between particular words (e.g., synonyms, antonyms, homographs) to better understand each of the words, and to use word relationships in writing for effect and for meaning-making.

Vocabulary Acquisition and Use, part 3:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.5.6 Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal contrast, addition, and other logical relationships (e.g., however, although, nevertheless, similarly, moreover, in addition).

WITS Alignment:

Many of our prompts require students to focus their attention on using words and phrases that signal contrast, addition, and other logical relationships between ideas, actions, beings, and materials. Visiting writers may read model poems aloud to the students. Through class discussion, students will be able to discuss the meaning and effects of these signals and then, individually, students will be able to incorporate vocabulary and phrases from these works into their own poetry.

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Grade 5 Common Core Reading Standards Alignment: Foundational Skills & Literature

Foundational Skills – Phonics and Word Recognition:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.5.3 Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.

  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.5.3.a: Use combined knowledge of all letter-sound correspondences, syllabication patterns, and morphology (e.g., roots and affixes) to read accurately unfamiliar multisyllabic words in context and out of context.
WITS ALIGNMENT:

By using word banks and other vocabulary development tools, visiting writers introduce students to unfamiliar words. Students will be able to determine the meaning of these words, and also practice usage by incorporating these new words into their poems. Also, some of our prompts also ask student to define unfamiliar or imaginary words in and out of context. When sharing their poems by reading aloud, students will be able to practice the correct pronunciation of new, unfamiliar words.

Foundational Skills – Fluency:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.5.4 Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.

WITS ALIGNMENT:

At the conclusion of each prompt, students are encouraged to take turns reading their poems aloud to the class.

Literature – Key Ideas and Details:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.1 Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

WITS ALIGNMENT:

Through class discussion, students will be able to verbally quote from model poems read aloud to support inferences about the poems’ meanings and themes.

Literature – Key Ideas and Details, continued

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.2 Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text.

WITS ALIGNMENT:

Visiting writers present prompts using published poems as models. Through class discussion, students will be able to summarize the works and identify themes therein. Students will be able to refer to specific details from the poems in order to support their analysis.

Literature – Craft and Structure:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language such as metaphors and similes.

WITS ALIGNMENT:

Visiting writers read aloud classic and contemporary poems that contain figurative language, metaphors, and meaning. Through class discussion, students are able to use context clues to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words and phrases. Students are encouraged to use similar techniques in their own poems and employ metaphors, similes, and idioms.

Literature – Craft and Structure, part 2:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.5 Explain how a series of chapters, scenes, or stanzas fits together to provide the overall structure of a particular story, drama, or poem.

WITS ALIGNMENT:

Many of our prompts are designed to call attention to organization and structure. Some of our prompts instruct students to write multiple stanzas. In addition to re-ordering their stanzas, students will be able to re-order their lines as well, and notice the effects (i.e. changes in emphasis and meaning) in doing so.

Literature – Craft and Structure, part 3:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.6 Describe how a narrator’s or speaker’s point of view influences how events are described.

WITS ALIGNMENT:

Visiting writers will read model poems aloud to the students. Through class discussion, students will call attention to the speaker of the poem’s point of view. (Much like how fiction contains a distinct “narrator” and a seperate “author,” in poetry, we refer to the “speaker” of the poem so that we do not falsely attribute the attitudes and beliefs expressed within a poem to its poet.) Students will be able to identify how the speaker’s point of view influences how events, being, or materials are described. Also, students will be able to write poems using creative narrators (personas), including body parts, inanimate objects, weather events, and/or other people.

Literature – Integration of Knowledge and Ideas:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.7 Analyze how visual and multimedia elements contribute to the meaning, tone, or beauty of a text (e.g., graphic novel, multimedia presentation of fiction, folktale, myth, poem).

WITS ALIGNMENT:

Visiting writers will display artwork or play a piece of music for students. Students then consider the meaning and tone of the presented work and develop poems that recall specific details and communicate students’ reflections, observations, and responses.

Literature – Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry, at the high end of the grades 4-5 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

WITS ALIGNMENT:

Visiting writers introduce students to poems both at grade-level and above grade-level. This contributes to students reading, comprehending, and seeking out advanced texts by the end of the academic year.

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Grade 5 Common Core Speaking & Listening Standards Alignment

Comprehension and Collaboration:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.5.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 5 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.5.1.a: Come to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation and other information known about the topic to explore ideas under discussion.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.5.1.b: Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions and carry out assigned roles.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.5.1.c: Pose and respond to specific questions by making comments that contribute to the discussion and elaborate on the remarks of others.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.5.1.d: Review the key ideas expressed and draw conclusions in light of information and knowledge gained from the discussions.
WITS ALIGNMENT:

Visiting writers lead a 2-day discussion and workshop about poetry, poetic terms, and creative writing with the students. Students will be able to listen to the writers, participate in guided discussion, build on one another’ ideas, clearly express their own ideas, and ask (and answer) questions for clarification. Our workshop takes place over two consecutive days, and students are required to recall the previous day’s lesson, review and explain key ideas, draw upon that information and apply it to their work on the second day. Upon the completion of each prompt, when students take turns sharing their poems by reading aloud to the class, the class will be able to adhere to the “poets’ code” and practice careful and respectful listening.

Comprehension and Collaboration, part 2:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.5.2 Summarize a written text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

WITS ALIGNMENT:

Visiting writers will read model poems aloud and/or project model poems onto a screen for the students. Students are then asked to summarize the text, paraphrase portions of the text, and recount key ideas and details from the work.

Comprehension and Collaboration, part 3:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.5.3 Summarize the points a speaker makes and explain how each claim is supported by reasons and evidence.

WITS ALIGNMENT:

Visiting writers will read model poems aloud to the students. Through class discussion, students will call attention to the speaker of the poem’s point of view. (Much like how fiction contains a distinct “narrator” and a seperate “author,” in poetry, we refer to the “speaker” of the poem so that we do not falsely attribute the attitudes and beliefs expressed within a poem to its poet.) Students will be able to summarize the points a speaker makes, and explain how his point of view is supported by specific details present within the poem.

Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.5.4 Report on a topic or text or present an opinion, sequencing ideas logically and using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.

WITS ALIGNMENT:

WITS prompts are designed so that students draw from their own knowledge, observations, and experiences in order to make poems. Our program emphasizes the value and effects of specific, concrete details in order to describe an abstract idea or theme. Many of our prompts are designed to call attention to organization and structure. Some of our prompts instruct students to write multiple stanzas. In addition to re-ordering their stanzas, students will be able to re-order their lines as well, and notice the effects (i.e. changes in emphasis and meaning) in doing so. At the conclusion of each prompt, students are given the opportunity to read their poems aloud.

Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas, continued:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.5.6 Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, using formal English when appropriate to task and situation.

WITS ALIGNMENT:

Students will be able to adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks and write poems that incorporate formal English and informal discourses. Through this activity, students will be able to call attention to the relationship between discourse and appropriate task and situation.

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Grade 5 Common Core Writing Standards Alignment

Text Types and Purposes:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.3.a: Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.3.b: Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, description, and pacing, to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.3.c: Use a variety of transitional words, phrases, and clauses to manage the sequence of events.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.3.d: Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.3.e: Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events.
WITS ALIGNMENT:

Visiting writers present prompts that ask students to write narrative poems (real or imagined) and students will be able to employ descriptive details, thoughts, feelings, linear or (intentionally) non-linear sequencing, and/or a conclusion. The WITS program emphasizes the value of using concrete details and sensory details in order to convey an abstract idea or theme. Specificity is emphasized and encouraged. Students will be able to call attention to the sequencing of elements and their development, and establish a beginning as well as close with a conclusion. Many prompts are designed so that students will employ temporal words and phrases, calling attention to the relationship between events or thoughts (or the relationship between thought and event).

Production and Distribution of Writing:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

WITS ALIGNMENT:

Students are given clear, specific instructions and prompts for making poems and will be able to produce clear and coherent poems with proper development and organization. Lessons and prompts are designed in such a way that students will be able to consider their own poem’s organization and structure, purpose, and intended audience.

Production and Distribution of Writing, continued:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.5 With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.

WITS ALIGNMENT:

Visiting writers will ask students to brainstorm (collectively and/or independently) before writing. Visiting writers walk around the room and spend one-on-one time with students as they work on their poems. Visiting writers also introduce students to revision techniques such as replacing weak, vague verbs with strong, specific verbs, improving descriptions by choosing more specific language, and/or removing lines from their poems. Students are also encouraged to play with syntax and re-order their lines. Many WITS prompts are designed with a built-in revision component.

Research to Build and Present Knowledge:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.9.a: Apply grade 5 Reading standards to literature (e.g., “Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or a drama, drawing on specific details in the text [e.g., how characters interact]”).
WITS ALIGNMENT:

Many prompts are designed to function as responses to and/or imitations of model published poems. Students will be able to reflect on characters, setting, events within a model poem and the specific details therein. When making their own poems, students will synthesize their own experiences, observations, and knowledge with the forms and techniques presented by visiting writers in model poems.

Range of Writing:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.10 Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

WITS ALIGNMENT:

Students will be able to write poems from a variety of prompts over short time frames (each prompt ranges from 2 to 15 minutes). Prompts are presented using published poems as models. Visiting writers guide students in a discussion about the model poem’s purpose and intended audience, and students will be able to write with a specific purpose and with a specific audience in mind.